Production mailing apparatus, such as inserting machines, typically has been one of the mail handling devices least susceptible to standardization because of the disparate nature of each user's applications and the range of volumes of mail to be handled by each different customer. Each mailing application has in the past had to be customized in order to meet the customer's needs. For the manufacturer, this typically has required expensive re-engineering efforts on each machine, including the customization of the software and firmware of each machine.
Prior inserter systems, in particular console inserter systems, such as the Pitney Bowes 8300 Series inserter systems included a multibus architecture that included a Supervisory program that reflected the particular configuration of the particular inserter system. Generally, any change in configuration that includes the addition of new modules requires a recustomizing of the Supervisory software to control the inserter system. The recustomizing of the Supervisory software has a destabilizing effect because the entire inserter system must be checked out with the recustomized Supervisory software.
Heretofore, the conventional inserter multibus architecture has been a parallel data bus without diagnostic capability. The multibus architecture includes a master/slave arrangement in which a central processor having a Supervisory program for the inserter system stored therein provides address and command signals to distributed processors having programs for respective modules of the inserter system stored therein. The central processor polls the distributed processors before sending control commands and addresses and receiving responses. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,856, issued to Piotroski et al. On Oct. 15, 1985, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
The multibus architecture has worked well but has reached its limitation as inserter system requirements, such as speed, throughput and size, have increased. Furthermore, new features required of inserters today place even larger time demands for faster Supervisory processing. Since the multibus architecture is master/slave (polled) arrangement, as more modules and distributed processors are added to the inserter system, the time available for each distributed processor to respond to polling by the central processor becomes less, thus delaying the response by the distributed processor.
New physical connections, such as a global serial channel, are desired for new inserter modules being developed. However, such modules cannot be used in an inserter system dedicated to the multibus architecture.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a software architecture that is suitable for the current and future requirements for Supervisory control of inserter systems.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a system software architecture that is compatible with past and present I/O configurations, including a combination thereof, and that is flexible to handle future I/O configurations.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a software architecture that has diagnostic capabilities.